March 11, 2007

IRVING, Texas - Ten SMU swimmers earned All-American status this weekend at the 2007 NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championship held at the University Aquatics Center on the campus of the University of Minnesota. Student-athletes from both SMU and Houston participated in the three-day event. The Mustangs placed 14th as a team and scored 58 points, while the Cougars tallied 38 points to finish 23rd.

SMU
The SMU women's swimming and diving team competed in final day of competition at the Division I NCAA Championships that were being held on the campus of Minnesota this weekend. The Mustangs placed 14th overall, qualifying ten swimmers for All-American status.

In the 1650 free, Anja Carman placed 26th with a time of 16:28.46 while Katie Roberts touched the wall in 33rd with a time of 16:34.58.

In the 200 back, Carman placed ninth in the prelims with a time of 1:56.00 and then finished 14th in with a time of 1:57.04 which qualified her for All-American honors.

Petra Klosova placed 16th in the prelims of the 100 free with a time of 49.28. Qualifying for All-American status, she bettered her time and placed ninth in the finals with a time of 48.50.

Jennifer Blackman stopped the clock at 49.73 in the 100 free in 25th while Leane Darling placed 28th with a time of 49.78. Angela San Juan Cisneros touched the wall in 57th with a time of 50.70. In the 200 breast, Jenny Basel finished 34th with a time of 2:17.65

The 400 free Mustang relay team of Darling, Klosova, Michelle Vlasakova and Blackman finished seventh in the prelims with a time of 3:17.29 and placed seventh in the finals with a time of 3:17.83.

Over the weekend, ten swimmers qualified as All-Americans in six different events. All four Mustang relays (200, 400 and 800 free and 400 medley relays) that competed qualified for All-American honors and Klosova and Carman took individual honors.

SMU All-Americans
Jennifer Blackman - 200 free relay, 800 free relay, 400 free relay
Leane Darling - 200 free relay, 400 free relay
Devon Callaghan - 400 medley relay
Anja Carman - 400 medley relay, 200 back
Justine Clark - 400 medley relay
Petra Klosova - 200 free relay, 400 medley relay, 800 free relay, 400 free relay, 100 free
Celina Lemmen - 800 free relay
Katie Roberts - 800 free relay
Angela San Juan Cisneros - 200 free relay
Michelle Vlasakova - 400 free relay

HOUSTON
Houston junior Ginni van Katwijk earned 294.75 points to finish second in the consolation finals of platform diving Saturday afternoon during the 2007 NCAA Championships at the University Aquatic Center.

van Katwijk, a native of Grootebroek, Netherlands, earned at least 55 points on all six of her dives during the consolation finals to finish a close second to Auburn's Lynnsey Segraves, who scored 300.05 points.

She qualified for the consolation finals after scoring 252.75 during the preliminaries, the 15th-highest score by any diver in the preliminaries.

Making her first appearance at the NCAA Championships, van Katwijk competed in her third event during the nation's top collegiate meet. She finished 35th during the preliminaries in both the 1- and 3-meter springboard events.

Anastasia Pozdniakova scored 407.10 points in the finals of the 3-meter springboard diving to finish second during the second day of the event.

Pozdniakova was one of only two divers to crack 400 points in the event. Stanford's Cassidy Krug won her second straight NCAA national championship, scoring 420.90 points.

The Elektrostal, Russia, native enjoyed a strong showing in the preliminaries earlier in the day, scoring 352.55 points to finish third and earn her place in the finals Friday evening.

Pozdniakova scored 338.40 points in the finals of the 1-meter springboard diving to finish fifth during the first day in Minneapolis.

Making her first appearance at the nation's top collegiate meet, Pozdniakova led all divers after scoring 349.55 points in the preliminaries, finishing nearly four points ahead of Miami (Fla.)'s Jenna Dreyer.